Lord Swaminarayan was at Samarkha, a village about seven kms. From anand. Two Brahmin devotees from Anand earnestly desired that the Lord must pay a holy visit to Anand. So, they went to Samarkha and prayed the Lord for that beseechingly. At that time Anand was the stronghold of Vaishnavas and Shaivites, some of whom felt that the new Holy Fellowship which Bhagwan Swaminarayan had organized was unworthy. So they were feeling strongly against it.
Lord Swaminarayan knew about this but the devotional sentiments of the two devotees were so strong that he had to agree to visit Anand. Then the two devotees left for advance preparation for receiving the Lord at Anand.
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But as soon as the word spread that Lord Swaminarayan was to visit Anand, the fanatic group of opponents opposed the plan vehemently and decided to form a mob and to stop the entry of the Lord by fighting tooth and nail.
Lord Swaminarayan, being omniscient foresaw all this. He instructed all the members of His entourage to remain completely disciplined and non-violent to the last breath. Then they proceeded towards Anand. As the procession of the entourage reached Anand, the miscreants threw dust, dung and stones at them but they all remained cool and calm and did not raise the voice or their hands even! They silently passed on and retreated without any grudge, to Vadtal.
At the holy assembly held at Vadtal all expressed sorrow at the incident but the dacoit-turned staunch devotee Joban Pagi said : “Lord, if your Lordship permits we would place huge heaps of thorns around Anand and destroy the whole town through a devastating conflagration.
The Lord said : “I have come upon the earth to create; not to destroy, to develop; not to damage and to build; not to break.” Saying this He spread some food grains from a heap before Him. The doves swooped upon the food grains, and when they pecked the food grains, they passed into super conscious state of divine bliss!
Then the Lord said : “The lives of all are under My command. I am the omnipotent Lord."
Raising the hand in blessing, our Lord smiled and looked at the doves. And lo! The doves came to life and flew away!
Then some Brahmins came there and bowed down to the Lord with respect and said: “Lord, when we just look at your physical form, you look like human being but when we look at your holy feet with distinct, remarkable signs, we are fully convinced that they are the marks of Godhood."
The Lord smiled at them and said : “Brahma, the creator of this universe prayed for his fifty years (amounting to millions of human years). Then only I have come upon the earth so that people can worship My feet to ensure ultimate, immortal place in My residence, Akshardham."
The Lord’s lotus-feet have sixteen holy signs, symbolic of His Godhood and we shall describe them in the next issue.
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